About Me

Bio

Rihana S. Mason received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. She is a cognitive psychologist with over 20 years of social science research experience including five years of program evaluation. She is presently a Research Scientist at the Urban Child Study Center (UCSC) at Georgia State University. The UCSC is an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University. The UCSC includes several partnerships between the university, education agencies, and community organizations.

Dr. Mason offers her experience in culturally relevant evaluation and the application of psychosocial theoretical frameworks to large scale research investigations involving culturally diverse populations in a variety of learning environments. Dr. Mason manages projects affiliated with Georgia Department of Education, Rollins Center for Language and Literacy, and Children’s Museum of Atlanta. She brings evaluation expertise related to the teaching of scientific concepts and research methods through her role as an external evaluator for several National Science Foundation awards including an HBCU-UP Targeted Infusion grant awarded to Morehouse College (Award HRD-1818618) as well as AGEP and AISL grants subcontracted through Karyl Askew Consulting . Her research interests include vocabulary acquisition, early literacy development, and culturally relevant and equitable assessment.

Her commitment to diversifying the scientific workforce is illustrated by her participation on an editorial team for two textbooks, Early Psychological Research Contributions from Women of Color, Volumes 1 & 2 (2023 and 2024, Routledge). She is a co-author of two books, Academic Pipeline Programs: Diversifying Pathways from the Bachelors to the Professoriate (2021, Lever Press) and Thinking Critically About Your Career in Psychology. She is Past President of the Southeastern Psychological Association. She is also a member of the Psi Chi Diversity Advisory Committee. She served as the chair for the Committee for the Equality of Professional Opportunity under the Southeastern Psychological Association.

Prior to joining the UCSC, Dr. Mason served as an Associate Professor in Psychology at Emmanuel College for several years where she helped to expand the undergraduate curriculum. The Ronald E. McNair Program at Georgia State University awarded her a Faculty Appreciation Award in 2008.

As an undergraduate at Spelman, she participated in the National Institutes of Mental Health Careers and Opportunities in Undergraduate Research Training Program (NIMH-COR) and was later named a NIMH-COR star in 2007. She is a recipient of the Predoctoral Ford Fellowship (2000) administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on behalf of the Ford Foundation and actively participates in the meeting of the Senior Ford Fellows.

She enjoys spending time as a basketball wife, mother, and mentor for students.